Burkina Faso – Improving the quality of pre-school education and encouraging early childhood development

Context

In the National Economic and Social Development Plan 2016-2020, education has been defined as a priority sector for Burkina Faso. In a country in which only 4% of children aged between 3 and 6 attend pre-school, early childhood education is a major challenge in Burkina Faso, a country where society is still unequal, with a high level of poverty. The combination of social, demographic and economic factors constitutes a national challenge with regard to improving access to, and the quality of, basic education. Pre-school education encourages children's cerebral development and improves the success rate of children in primary school.

The underlying theme of the project is to help improve the quality of pre-school education provided in the pre-school child development and education centres (centres d’éveil et d’éducation préscolaire - CEEP) in Burkina Faso, by working on two main areas:

• Improving pedagogical practices
• Developing educational materials, such as games and toys, with a local economic activity based upon them

The Sustainable Development Goals No. 1 (No poverty) and No. 4 (Inclusive and equitable quality education).

Project owner

Planète Enfants & Développement (PE&D).

Overall objective

Improve the quality of pre-school education in Burkina Faso.

Specific objectives

• Disseminate new teaching materials to those involved in pre-school education and to families
• Make games and toys an economic development opportunity

Beneficiaries

Direct beneficiaries:

• In general, the aim of the project is to improve the quality of the pre-school education system in the 109 public pre-school child development and education centres in the country, targeting around 10,000 children
• For training activities:  500 early childhood educators working in public CEEPs, 20 schoolteachers from the Training Schools for Middle- and Senior-Level Management in Social Work and 10 trainers
• With regard to communication activities to raise awareness of the importance of children's surroundings in education:  700 people at the Ouagadougou International Arts and Crafts Fair (SIAO), at least 1,000 families during radio broadcasts, all the instructors and teachers working in the CEEPs, i.e. approximately 4,000,  with 4 people per structure
• For the early childhood resource centre: approximately 500 people per year
• For the solidarity-based social enterprise:  One project leader and his or her team and approximately 10 craftspeople

Indirect beneficiaries:

• All the students of the Training School for Middle Management in Social Work (École de Formation des Cadres Moyens en Travail Social - ECMTS) and the Training School for Senior Management in Social Work (École des Cadres Supérieurs en Travail Social - ECSTS) who will be trained during the next five years as early childhood instructor-educators and early childhood inspectors, 2,200 private pre-school professionals, schoolchildren from Burkina Faso and their families, and finally the family members of local artisans

Anticipated outcomes

• All preschool educators, who are State civil servants, are trained in how to use the new teaching materials, and put them to use
• Families learn about the new games and toys, and are aware of their educational value
• The Early Childhood Resource Centre is set up and its economic model enables it to operate independently
• The revised teaching materials are validated by the Burkina Faso Ministry of Education and Literacy
• Craftspeople's organisational and production skills are strengthened and the network of craftsmen produces a large number of games and toys in line with the quality criteria set out by the project
• The solidarity-based social enterprise specialising in the sale of games and toys is autonomous